Numerous People Unaccounted For After Boat Holding 200 Migrants Sinks near the coast of The Gambia.
No fewer than seven people have perished and a significant number are lost following a boat transporting approximately two hundred migrants trying to get to Europe overturned off the coast of the Gambian coast, authorities say.
The boat overturned in the early hours of Thursday in the vicinity of the village of Jinack in the North Bank area and it was subsequently discovered "stranded on a sandbar", the nation's defense ministry announced officially.
Ninety-six people have been saved to date and a rescue operation continues for other passengers who were traveling on the sunken boat that was en route to the Spanish Canary Islands.
The dangerous voyage over the the Atlantic has grown into a more frequent path for African migrants attempting to get to the EU.
Close to 47,000 people reached the Canaries in the year 2024 and figures suggest in excess of nine thousand individuals perished during the journey.
Rescue Operation
Following the Wednesday incident, the navy launched a search operation, involving multiple navy ships and a commercial fishing craft that offered help, the defense officials reported.
Officials state some of the deceased are not Gambian nationals and that their nationalities are still under confirmation.
The bodies of the seven people who died were found, and 10 of those rescued are described as being in grave health and undergoing emergency treatment.
An Established Corridor
Gambia is a common pathway used by migrants trying to reach the EU, frequently via hazardous voyages over water and land.
Recently, the European bloc has established pacts with several Maghreb states with the goal of limiting undocumented migration.
